Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The wind blows bitter through the last of the autumn leaves, time to huddle by the fire a spell, clutching a cup of steaming tea (coffee or cider you choose your poison) soon all manner of ghosts and goblins will be ranging the streets in search of sickeningly sweet treats. Time for a Halloween Meme (the questions of which I compiled from a few different meme floating about the tinterwebs)....

What is your favorite work of horror fiction?

What is your favorite work of science fiction/fantasy?

Who is your favorite monster?

What horror movie gives you the most chills?

What character from any horror film would you most like to play?

Freddy or Jason?

What is your favorite Halloween treat?

Ghosts or goblins?

Friendly-faced jack o’lantern or scary one?

What is your scariest encounter with the paranormal?

Do you believe in ghosts?

Would you rather be a zombie, alien, or psycho?

Favorite Halloween costume?

Best thing about Halloween?

Person in your family who most likes Halloween (not counting yourself)?

Are you superstitious? If so, name at least one superstition of yours.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

This week is Banned Books Week, a time to celebrate the freedom to read. There shouldn't be a need to have a Banned Books Week but unfortunately there are thousands of books that have been burned, banned and continue to get challenged by individuals, groups and governments that find them offensive.

The books we read expand our minds, and make us the people we are. Books have always been an important part of my life, I can still remember my dad reading me stories when I was small, some of the books have been challenged. Every Christmas and Birthday I would be more excited about the books I received than the toys and clothes I got. One Christmas my dad gave me a copy of A light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein, I sat in a nest of torn wrapping paper and read my brand new book of poetry from cover to cover.

Literary exploration is so important, I read a book a night to my son, stories and poetry, including some of the very same books that my father gave me, books that have been Challenged, and Banned. I fear for the future, if these books that shaped me became banned and children and young adults the world over could not read them.

Books that have been Banned or Challenged at some point are not all masterful works of literature, but that is the magic of books and the stories they tell of history and unknown worlds to explore. I have read quite a few books on the Banned list, and not all of them I loved but they did make me think and I was glad to have read them.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Marina at book group mentioned reading a blog that was doing a 100 Things Challenge, and thought it would be interesting to do a write up about what 100 things you can't live without. If 100 is too much that write a list of ten, 20, or 50 items that you don't think you could live without.

" 'Pratchett is a comic genius' - Daily Express 'Pratchett's humour takes logic past the point of absurdity and round again, but it is his unexpected insights into human morality that make the Discworld series stand out' - Times Educational Supplement 'Cracking dialogue, compelling illogic and unchained whimsy... Pratchett has a subject and a style that is very much his own' - The Sunday Times 'He is screamingly funny. He is wise. He has style' - Sunday Telegraph"

Burble at the back of the book:Although the scythe isn't pre-eminent among the weapons of war, anyone who has been on the wrong end of, say, a peasants' revolt will know that in skilled hands it is fearsome. For Mort however, it is about to become one of the tools of his trade. From henceforth, Death is no longer going to be the end, merely the means to an end. He has received an offer he can't refuse. As Death's apprentice he'll have free board, use of the company horse and being dead isn't compulsory. It's the dream job until he discovers that it can be a killer on his love life...

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve

Burble at the back of the book:Tom and Hester have been thrown together. Truly-thrown out of a city on wheels that's left them stranded and starving in the middle of nowhere while it hares off after its prey. Hester is desperate for revenge, and Tom is only desperate to get back on board his beloved London. This is a stunning literary debut from Philip Reeve. A novel that defies easy categorisation, it is a gripping adventure story set in an inspired fantasy world, where moving cities trawl the globe. Peopled with convincing and utterly likeable characters, this story is a magical and unique read.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------these are the books for September through there are several others books being passed around at this time, including the SookieStackhouse series by Charlaine Harris and several other novels that escape me at the time of writing this blog post. I shall endeavour to collate a list of secondary novels and series that everyone else is happily reading through, and please comment on what you are reading now and what you're thoughts are on it.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

music: yes we have had this prompt before but its a good one to go back to. Pop your headphones on and play a favourite or random track and let the music inspire your writing and write down whatever pops into your head.

chocolate: nothing says calorific like chocolate...so if you need inspiration and an excuse for eating more chocolate than is healthy.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Write a drabble scene using a quote, any quote famous or not (from tv, cinema, books whatever inspires you)it can be a dialogue scene using the quote or a descriptive narrative inspired by the quote and don't forget to tell us who said it.

"Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards. " -Robert A. Heinlein

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Dungeon: The word dungeon is based on Old Frenchdonjon, which is derived from Latindom(i)niōn- "property" (and ultimately dominus "lord"). However, in French the term donjon refers to a "keep" (a type of tower), and the term oubliette or cachot (a type of prison) is a more appropriate translation of English "dungeon".

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

this weeks drabble writing prompt is wolf, be it a werewolf, a wolf cub, or a guy named Wulf. Remember a drabble is exactly 100 words in length but if you feel inspired to write 500 we'll still read it!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Name ten books that have stuck with you, and have helped to shape your world.Don't take too long to think about it , simply list the first Ten books that you can think of in ten minutes or less. Books you have read that will always stick with you. tag 10 friends if you wish to share the meme.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

The idea is simple: Write a short story that can be read in three minutes or less — that's usually about 500-600 words in length. I borrowed the idea from this article about a contest in the states for writing three minute fiction, which I think is a brilliant idea for writing a short story meant to be read aloud.

To create a larger world than the confines of a 100 word drabble. A world that pairs the written word with the art of story telling.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

"Write or Die is a web application that encourages writing by punishing the tendency to avoid writing. Start typing in the box. As long as you keep typing, you're fine, but once you stop typing, you have a grace period of a certain number of seconds and then there are consequences. "

*I haven't tried Write or Die but I have looked at it with interest. I found the link via a twitter post and saved it for a quiet day. I may give it a shot on Tuesday when I can concentrate on writing while the house is empty. ~ Apryl

the following questions are for a Character Map Exercise to help you build a solid character.

Character’s name and age; other personal detailsWhat does he/she most love?What does he/she most hate?What he/she eat for breakfast?How did he/she last vote in the last election, if at all?Where did he/she go to school?Does he/she have any noticeable traits which affect everyday life; short-sightedness, a limp, colour-blindness, can’t tell left from right?Does he/she drive? If so what? If not, why not?

How would this person be most likely to react to/ interact with:Margaret Thatcherthe Dalai Lamaan estate agent someone spitting in the streetModern artA pornographic filmEast EndersA friend getting so drunk they couldn’t walkA screaming babyMarket researcher in the street

Where does this person buy clothes? Are clothes important to him/her?What music is currently on this person’s CD/ipod ?Is this person allergic to anything?Do they have any medical history we need to know about?What are his/her greatest talents, and greatest weaknesses?Would you trust this person with a secret? Why/ why not?Could this person ever be unfaithful in a long-term relationship?What sort of books, magazines or newspapers does this person read?What is his/her biggest fear?What is his/her biggest secret?Write down five words that describe this person.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

This was quite a hard book to get into at first. There are quite a lot of different characters to remember and two different storylines which was not immediatly apparent. I fell i would have made it easier if I had first read the trilogy 'Chronicles of the Raven' as this book deos refer back a few times and I think reading them would have given a good insight into this book. On th eplus side the raven re easy to like as characters and your find yourself wanting them to survive and reading more of their adventures. - Sharon Book Club Member

Apparently the BBC reckons most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. The list was bumbling about facebook and blogland and is apparently a bastardization of a "most popular" books list with some high brow pretentious books thrown in. I shall look up a "classic" list and a sci-fi list as well.

Instructions:1) Look at the list and put an ‘x’ after those you have read ENTIRELY2) Add a ‘+’ to the ones you LOVE.3) Star (*) those you plan on reading.4) Tally your total at the bottom.

Monday, May 11, 2009

You couldn’t actually see the portal, the landscape looked the same, no matter where you were standing, if you walked north or south of the gateway, you continued on your travels unaware. If you walked into the portal on the other hand, the world changed completely, as it transported you to Whitewater in Archipelago, a city unlike no other. The talented, could learn to locate and navigate these portals. Nathaniel was one such person, tall, skinny, lank haired, shabbily clothed, as unassuming as a person could be, his only moniker a cigar permanently adhered to the right of his mouth.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

We're rattling through the books and have recieved another batch from the Library, which are ready for you to collect when you're ready!

Sandman: Endless NightsWith The Sandman: Endless Nights, bestselling author Neil Gaiman returns to the characters (and medium) that made him famous. It's a collection of seven short stories, each illustrated by some of the best artists working in contemporary comics (eg, Frank Quitely, Glenn Fabry and Milo Manara) and focusing on the Endless--the anthropomorphic manifestations of seven universal concepts: Death, Desire, Dream, Despair, Delirium, Destruction and Destiny.

Also available are a choice of 2 (!!) Dean Koontz titles: Watchers or Odd Thomas

Watchers: They escape from a secret government: two mutant creatures, both changed utterly from the animals they once were. And no one who encounters them will ever be the same again: A lonely widower; a ruthless assassin; a beautiful woman; a government agent. Drawn together in a deadly hunt, all four are inexorably propelled towards a confrontation with an evil beyond human imagining.

Odd Thomas: He's Odd. Odd Thomas, to be precise. Genius fry-cook at the Pico Mundo Grill; boyfriend to the gorgeous Stormy Llewellyn - and possibly the only person with a chance of stopping one of the worst crimes in the bloody history of murder.....

Something evil has come to the desert town that Odd and Stormy call home. It comes in the form of a mysterious man with a macabre appetite, a filing cabinet full of information on the world's worst killers, and strange, hyena-like shadows following him wherever he goes. Odd is worried. He knows things, sees things - about the living, the dead and the soon to be dead. Things that he has to act on. Now he's terrified for Stormy, himself and Pico Mundo. Because he knows that on Wednesday August 15th, a savage, blood-soaked whirlwind of wiolence and murder will devastate the town.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

This week's drabble prompt is music, you can write about music or put on some music (anything you like, pop, rock, heavy metal, emo, goth, whatever your favourite flavour of musical poison.) and write whatever the music inspires you to write. Please tell us what you were listening to when you were writing (it doesn't count towards your 100 words) even if its the worst most embarassing music ever, we want to know.

Monday, April 20, 2009

I've picked up Flame's post from the comments section and popped it on here for you all to see as I think its great!

Painted wings and giant’s rings glimmered gently in the firelight. A single wet tear glistened as it rolled down the emerald green scales on the dragon’s sharp cheekbones.As the last of the screams faded into the silence of the night, and the lava ran down the grooves of the cave floor into the sea, the dragon sat and gently wept.One burst of excitement in the wrong place was all that it had taken to turn their rock fortress into molten lava, killing his lifelong friend and condemning the dragon to a life of painful solitude for ever more.

Friday, April 17, 2009

The water pressure altered, Kenny, as he was affectionately known by his owner, slipped sideways out of the way of the bigger something, he would have said Fish, but he was one and he knew this wasn’t a species member. The bigger something had fur, Kenny didn’t know what fur was, he was only a goldfish, but he did know danger when it presented its face, in this case a pink nose pressed against the glass, two yellow eyes glaring, sensing prey. The pressure changed again, Kenny hunkered to the bottom of the bowl, perhaps the gravel would provide cover?

Thursday, March 19, 2009

First of all to answer the question of "what's a drabble?" I shall borrow from that oracle of all knowledge useful and not...Wikipedia

"Drabble: A drabble is an extremely short work of fiction exactly one hundred words in length, although the term is often used to indicate a short story of fewer than 1000 words. The purpose of the drabble is brevity and to test the author's ability to express interesting and meaningful ideas in an extremely confined space."

the prompt for those of you wishing to work on writing skills as well as joining the book group, is to write a 100 word drabble using the prompt "Broken". Its not as easy as it looks but I do find that they are quite fun to work on, they get your brain working, thinking, and being creative. A small baby step before writing that novel, magazine article, or fairy tale. A few of my drabbles can be found here ( http://www.daemara.blogspot.com/ my rather dustily abandoned writing blog, just scroll down past the unfinished fairy tale) . You put your whole heart into writing, and by my sharing of my little drabbles I'm putting my heart on the line for this group and hope that you will be brave enough to put yours.

please post a copy of your drabble in the comments so we can all share.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

The following books are a few of the choices for the next book(s). Most people haveby now read The Graveyard Book, or are nearing the end of it so the following books have been selected off a list that is still being compiled, as we are awaiting to see which books the Librarian can get hold of for us. Let us know if these seem of interest, and if you have any suggestions for books you have read that might intrest the rest of the group. Or what book are you waiting to get in your hot little hands?

If you had the power to kill with your bare hands, what would you do with it?

Graceling takes readers inside the world of Katsa, a warrior-girl in her late teens with one blue eye and one green eye. This gives her haunting beauty, but also marks her as a Graceling. Gracelings are beings with special talents—swimming, storytelling, dancing. Katsa's Grace is considered more useful: her ability to fight (and kill, if she wanted to) is unequaled in the seven kingdoms. Forced to act as a henchman for a manipulative king, Katsa channels her guilt by forming a secret council of like-minded citizens who carry out secret missions to promote justice over cruelty and abuses of power. --- taken from amazon.com

"A work of ruthless psychological realism, it's a landmark in the graphic novel medium. It would be a masterpiece in any."-TIME, TIME MAGAZINE's 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present.

*I added Watchmen as several book group members have read it, and at least 3 members (one of which is me Apryl) are in the process of reading it.

Monday, March 9, 2009

I have been googling around and compiling this list of meme questions the last few days and I'm posting it now for those of you who are participating in the book group from a distance, or just addicted to memes. It's heavily sci-fi/fantasy/horror based but if you feel like taking the meme please link back to the group. I hope you have fun filling it out. ~ Apryl

Friday, March 6, 2009

The first book for Chimera Book Group is The Graveyard book by Neil Gaiman. Available at your local library, bookshop or Amazon.

The Graveyard Book is the story of Nobody "Bod" Owens a normal boy who escaped the grisly murder of his family and has gone to live in a graveyard. Bod is being raised and educated by some of the things that go bump in the night. Learning life lessons from those that lack it.

The cover art and illustrations by Chris Riddell are wonderfully macabre and inspiring. an the book itself is filled with spirits, ghosts, friendship, witches, menacing humor, and did I mention there is a murderer on the loose? Will Bod live long enough to grow into a man?

I think its the perfect choice for this budding book group and can lead us on to darker things. Come along to our next meeting (Tuesday at 7:30 at Chimera, Ripley) or pick up the book and read along with the blog, and join our Facebook page "Chimera Book Group".

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Lat night was the very first meeting of Chimera Book and Writing Group. We sat down with coffee listening to the storm rage outside as we got down to the nitty gritty of discussing our first book choice, Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, and why Heather and I started the book group in the first place.

Over more coffee and tea we talked about the books we like, what made us purchase them, or borrow them from the library and read into the small hours of the night. I brought along a hastily grabbed pile of my books to discuss content and covers. What makes you fall in love with a book? is it that dragon glimmering on the cover or daring hero/heroine? the first sentence? the book jacket? what makes the characters come to life and speak to you?

The book group is centred on our love of the dark side of things, the things that lurk in the darkest corners of our nightmares, and the hunters that seek them, dark worlds and the fantastical filled with all manner of creatures good and evil. Books off the edge of the map where "Here there be Dragons".

Tuesday 3rd March 2009 sees the start of a new Book and Creative Writing group at Chimera.Start time 19:30-21:30Cost: £2.50What to bring: Your notepad and a pen.

So what's all this about then? We figured that Ripley needs an alternative book group that deals in the likes of Horror, Manga, Comic Book, GW Novels etc, none of your Romantic Rubbish (though we might make an exception for raunchy Vampires!) so here it is. We don't discriminate on age, though we would recommend your parents don't mind you being out this late, especially on a school night.

The format of the night will be an hour on the chosen book (supplied by our local library, agreed upon by the group) followed by creative writing practise for the second hour (if your a manga or comic book artist, feel free to join us, its all part of the story telling process). So if you've been itching to sort out that novel or short story, let us help focus your mind, or be a sounding off forum.

So what are you waiting for, we'll see you at the store on Tuesday 3rd March at 19:30.